Trendspotting with Jill Laine: Stripes!

Jill Laine is a style expert, and a regular contributor to the Fox 10 Morning Show as well as ABC 15’s Sonoran Living in Phoenix, AZ. After hearing from women about their fashion dilemmas, Jill developed a series of workshops, including ...

Do they really make you look wider?

Welcome SK Style Watchers! I’m personal stylist Jill Laine, and each week I’ll be bringing you a pick from my favorite trend and tips on how to wear it. I’ll sort through the fabulous, the so-so and the downright scary styles to bring you only the best! Up this week: stripes!

Trendspotting

Do they really make you look wider?

Welcome SK Style Watchers! I’m personal stylist Jill Laine, and each week I’ll be bringing you a pick from my favorite trend and tips on how to wear it. I’ll sort through the fabulous, the so-so and the downright scary styles to bring you only the best! Up this week: stripes!

Although they have become a classic spring and summer wardrobe staple, stripes are experiencing an extra-huge resurgence in popularity this season, which is why they are my pick as trend of the week.

As a personal stylist, I’ve had many of my clients tell me that they are afraid to wear stripes, that all stripes will make you appear wider and heavier. So, is this true? I’m happy to report that no, this isn’t true, and I’m going to give you three simple tips on how to wear your stripes with great success!

Color

Choose a stripe in a soft or muted color, that isn’t in vivid contrast to the background color of your article of clothing. This makes the stripe appear less obvious, but still fresh and fun! The stronger the contrast of color is, the more obvious the stripe and emphasis on the horizontal.

Size

Pattern

Alternating the widths and colors of the stripes is another great trick for wearing stripes successfully -- as is wearing asymmetrical stripes, where the design of the stripes is at an angle, diffusing the horizontal line.

So remember color, size and pattern. And to avoid looking larger, do not wear stripes with vividly contrasting colors or stripes that are even and wide. As you can see, stripes are indeed a trend for everybody. So get to it, get out there and earn your stripes!

Next week

Check back every week right here on SheKnows to see if there’s a new trend that you may want to try. Next week I’ll be discussing summer scarves! I'll show you how to take a simple scarf and turn it into a whole outfit.